The Armonk Antiques Show

ARMONK, N.Y.

: The 2004 Armonk Antiques Show, a fundraising benefit for The North Castle Historical Society, was held April 17-18 at Byram Hills High School. Produced by The Last Detail Antiques Shows, Ltd, show manager Martin Greenstein gathered 63 antiques dealers from throughout the Northeast and one from France with furniture and furnishings, art, textiles, rugs, silver and dishes. The dealers were offering their antiques in various parts of the high school, which had been partitioned into small show rooms allowing them to have room settings or well appointed minishops for the weekend.

The North Castle Historical Society was chartered in 1971 to preserve and protect various buildings in the town and serve as an educational resource of the town's history. Made up of the villages of Armonk and Banksville and the hamlet of North White Plains, the area was settled about 1700 and the village of Armonk organized about 1736. The society has eight buildings that it maintains with volunteers and an annual budget supported in part with money earned through the antiques show.

The Last Detail Antiques Shows, Ltd was formed about five years ago when Greenstein, who was at that time an active antiques dealer, began producing shows. His first was for the Lions Club in nearby Bedford Hills, which he still manages. This was his second year to manage the Armonk show, which has been going since the late seventies.

Greenstein has been upgrading the offerings for the past two years, insisting that dealers present only that caliber of merchandise the walk-in trade would expect to find in a high quality show. It has allowed many new dealers to participate - some who customarily sell through their own shops in the distant suburbs.

Deborah Meiselman trades under the name Circa from her shop in Rockport, Mass. Her collection for the show had a European look from late in the Nineteenth Century with a large oak library table supported by heavy turned legs, an early leather armchair that could have come from an Englishmen's club and accessories from the last 200 years.

Vol. I is the antiques business owned and operated by Suzanne Cassano and Karen Quinn from Sharon, Conn., who only offer their collection at shows. Their style and taste has a Continental flair with pieces that are just a little offbeat. Sales for their weekend included a set of ten dried and pressed botanical specimens framed as wall hangings priced at $1,750 and a vine rack originally used to set vine sprouts to root in small glass vials and now used as a wine glass rack, at $800.

Many of the dealers have mixed their periods in picking the items for display and sale. Augat Antiques, Dennisport, Mass., had a French provincial bed, tin stars, some Adirondack stick furniture and even an old advertising piece, a sign made from a ships rudder. From New York City, Powderhouse Antiques offered mostly accessories for the kitchen and dining room.

Jackie and Frank Nuncio, Sandwich, Mass., often have furniture but for this show they had only small antiques. C.K. Sykes Antiques is the shop in Cos Cob, Conn., owned by Carissa Koontz Sykes. She had on display a collection of furniture from the British Isles and Ireland including a Chippendale settee she described as late period circa 1840 made of mahogany and priced at $9,750. Also from the local area were brothers B&D Johnson, Greenwich, Conn., with a large collection of early furniture and decorative accessories.

Henry and Nancy Fender, Glen Cove, N.Y., had mostly American and English furniture and several girandole mirrors. Henry said the mirrors are a specialty with them. William Nickerson Antiques is from Orleans, Mass., a town on the north side of Cape Cod. Their offering was a mix of American country and formal furniture from colonial through the Federal periods. David Beauchamp specializes in American Federal period furniture and it usually looks to be in perfect condition. One two-drawer pedestal stand from his Hancock, N.H., workbench glistened with a fresh repair to its mahogany veneer.

Early Art Deco and Art Nouveau was the design style offered by New York City dealer Lerebours Antiques. Brass andirons mostly made in America in the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Centuries are the stock and trade of North Norwich New York dealer J. Gallagher while Anne Piper, Keene, N.H., trades in silver. She was offering among other pieces an Old Sheffield Plate tureen, English, circa early 1800s.

Greenstein succeeded in bringing together a wide array of dealers with an extremely wide selection of antiques for this event. As it was also a success for the historical society and most of the dealers, expect them to continue the business for next year. Greenstein did say the date might change for next year's show. For information, 914-572-4132 or mgkisco@aol.com.